Well thanks Rick for explaining “IANGWDA” and “IANAAE”, because that was about to send me off to Google. I feel like such a loser that I still don’t know what WAG is. I thought it was: Wild Ass Guess, but I’ve seen it used in contexts that don’t work.
As you know by now, I’m in Montreal Canada. I’ve seen stray cats out here all winter. And we’ve hit -40 for more than a few days in a row, on many occasions this year. Miraculously, they’re still alive. And still after the birds on my outdoor birdfeeder. So it’s possible that 6 hours of transport to LAX, or 13 hours of transport to MEL wouldn’t kill them. It’s the loss of pressure as a combo that could do them in. (There’s also something about loss of pressure that makes giving them some ‘chill-pills’ counter-productive.)
Anyway … I was surprised to find out, when I was planning a much closer move to Calgary (some 3000 odd kilometers) that SOME aircraft did not have temperature controlled cabins, including some used by Air Canada.
I had contacted a Pet Transporter company as “plan B”, because Air Canada wouldn’t let me board 4 cats at once. Two per flight. The woman I contacted didn’t serve Montreal, but had lived in Calgary for a few years, and said I’d enjoy the city. She then gave me a few tips about moving the cats. Thus, my quite recent knowledge that some aircraft used today do not have cargo holds suitable for pets, but they won’t tell you that when they book you. They’ll only tell you if you ask, and even then it’s not guaranteed that they aren’t appeasing you because they don’t know the answer themselves.
That’s just ONE of my nightmares in all of this. Another one is how many pets escape their transport cages. But that’s a whole 'nother thread. If you look up Pearson Airport (Toronto) and lost pets on Google (not neccessarily in that order), you’ll see that 5000 pets are either lost or killed by the commercial airline industry each year. I had decided to DRIVE my cats to Calgary; unfortunately I can’t do the same for Australia. I’ll be buying those plastic ties they sell that loop into themselves, and won’t undo unless you cut them. Hopefully that will help. That and a prayer.
*** WARNING!!! NOT FOR ANIMAL SENSTIVE FOLK LIKE ME *** For an example, click here for Animal Abuse Air Canada Dot Com. The airline was willing to reimbourse the cost of their pet. COST? WTF? It’s FREE to have a baby. Would you say that the cost for a baby is nothing? I’m beside myself that I have to put my ‘babies’ in cargo, but to know that I’m dealing with airlines who think of my ‘cargo’ in terms of cost price is chilling. That’s just one example. I’ve heard many more nightmares.
An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. I’m doing everything I can think of to get them there as safely and sanely as possible. Just them being in quarrantine is a torture for me, but at some point, I have to live for me. I’m engaged and will be living in Australia for the rest of my life, presumably. So I’m doing the best I reasonably can.
and this will be quite important.